A History of Banking in Antebellum America
Financial Markets and Economic Development in an Era of Nation-Building

Professor Bodenhorn reveals how America was served by an efficient system of financial intermediaries by the mid-nineteenth century.

Howard Bodenhorn (Author)

9780521669993, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 February 2000

284 pages, 12 b/w illus. 33 tables
22.9 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.395 kg

'Professor Bodenhorn's work both integrates earlier research and greatly extends our understanding of the evolution of the short-term capital markets in the United States. The book is certain to have an impact upon our interpretation of institutional evolution in the antebellum period. It should be a 'must read' for all serious economic historians of the United States.' Lance E. Davis, California Institute of Technology

Previous banking histories have focused on the money supply function of early American banks and its connection to the recurrent boom-bust cycle of the antebellum era. This history focuses on the credit generating function of American banks It demonstrates that banks aggressively promoted development rather than passively followed its course. Using previously unexploited data, Professor Bodenhorn shows that banks helped to advance the development of incipient industrialization. Additionally, he shows that banks formed long-distance relationships that promoted geographic capital mobility, thereby assuring that short-term capital was directed in socially desirable directions, that is, where it was most in demand. He then traces those institutional and legal developments that allowed for this capital mobility. The result was that America was served by an efficient system of financial intermediaries by the mid-nineteenth century.

1. Introduction: historical setting and three views of banking
2. Financial development and economic growth in Antebellum America
3. Financing entrepreneurship: banks, merchants and manufacturers
4. The integration of short-term capital markets in Antebellum America
5. Banks, brokers, and capital mobility
6. Conclusion: how banks mattered.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]